NANOSTRUCTURED ELECTROLYTE MEMBRANES BASED ON POLYMER / IONIC LIQUIDS / ZEOLITE COMPOSITES FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE PEMFCs BASIC DATA: Acronym: ZEOCELL. Full title: Nanostructured Electrolyte Membranes Based on Polymer / Ionic Liquids / Zeolite Composites For High Temperature PEM Fuel Cells. Collaborative project for small or medium scale focused research. Cooperation Theme 5: ENERGY. Energy Topic : Basic research for materials and processes for PEMFC’s. Grant Agreement nº: Starting date: 1st January Duration: 36 months. Maximum Community financial contribution: € 1,917, Project Coordinator: The Institutute of Nanoscience of Aragon – Dr. Jesús Santamaría Web page:

ZEOCELL stands for: “NANOSTRUCTURED ELECTROLYTE MEMBRANES BASED ON POLYMER / IONIC LIQUIDS / ZEOLITE COMPOSITES FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE PEMFCs”. CONTEXT: Worldwide demand for energy is growing at an alarming rate and the main energy providers, fossil fuels, present important problems like: pollution gases, decrease of reserves of oil, policy and environmental regulation and high prices. Facing this situation at European level several policy measures have been defined: EU Kyoto Commitments: 8% CO2 reduction by 2008, Improving Energy Efficiency (Target: 18% from 1995 to 2010), Increasing the Share of Cogeneration. (Target: 12% of EU- 15 electricity by 2010) and Doubling the Share of Renewable Energies. In order to achieve these objectives, new energy providers is necessary. Hydrogen and Fuel Cells are seen by many as key solutions for the 21 st century, enabling clean efficient production of power and heat from a range of primary energy sources. The PEMFC technology represents one of the most promising opportunities in the field of the alternative fuels for an environmentally friendly energy production. However, for these fuel cells to become commercially successful there are a number of challenges to be met. One of keys of success of PEMFC technology is the development of improved and mass manufacturable electrolyte membrane materials that can operate at a temperature range of ºC since it has been proved that, operating at T>120ºC can overcome most of the functional problems currently associated with PEMFCs. The use of composite or heterogeneous materials is a clear research path for the development of improved electrolyte membrane materials. Some material combinations, such as polymer-ionic liquid composites or polymer-zeolite composites, have already been investigated as potential candidates for PEMFC electrolyte membranes. OBJECTIVES: ZEOCELL project will develop a nanostructured electrolyte membrane based on a new composite multifunctional material made by the synergic combination of zeolites, ionic liquids and polymers that is proposed for the first time within the framework of this project. This innovative membrane will be able to operate at ºC in high temperature PEMFCs and will show the following features:  High ionic conductivity: ≥100 mS/cm at 150ºC.  Suitability for operating at temperatures between ºC (the membrane materials are conceived to be thermically stable up to 200ºC. Membrane performance will be validated on single cells at temperatures up to 150ºC minimum).  Good chemical, mechanical and thermal stability up to 200ºC.  Durable (<1% of performance degradation during the first 1000 hours working).  Low fuel cross-over (<five times lower than Nafion methanol permeability ≤ 3x10-7 cm 2 s-1)  Reduced manufacturing costs (< 400 EUR/m 2 ). January 08 December 2010 WORKPLANWORKPLAN